My Desolate Garden
by smilin steph
Summary: (AU-Period fic) He keeps me under lock and key. Everthing comes at a price, even the small amount of freedom he gives me comes with an expiration date. An arranged marriage to a man who finds my discomfort his greatest pleasure. (Before New Orleans-For now)
1. Chapter 1

Story

Chapter 1

The sun was beating down upon me, it had become an excruciating pleasure one of the few that I was allowed to enjoy nowadays, However due to the weather I wasn't exactly enjoying it more of taking part in this out of spite as it was one of the few things I was still allowed to do. Ever since the marriage this is where I have found the simple pleasures within life, by that i simply mean I find pleasure out of spiting my husband and his incessant rules hence why you find me describing the heat of the sun, as I found myself enduring something uncomfortable just so that it would anger him that I had been out in the Gardens that he had apparently set out for me upon my arrival in to his household.  
Which is indeed another way of describing an unwanted marriage to someone you've never met. The fact that we had never met before our day of marriage had never bothered me as i knew that due to my social standing and status within society, that and my parent incessant need for more power and money that this would be my fate to marry a man I was likely to have never met or only an aqatance of, in fact I had prepared for this moment my entire life. Therefore the day when my father stood before me and informed me of my sudden marriage within a couple of weeks I was not shocked in fact I found myself rather excited and a small part of me releived.  
I wish I never had felt that excitement at the moment of my impending vows, as my husband was indeed the biggest disappointment of my life, I had always had rules within my life as a person in high society you must act in a certain way especially young women of eligibility however my husband put rules to a whole new level.  
On the first day within his presence my dearest husband told me the rules with which I was meant to live the rest of my time within his household, in other words how I'm meant to live my life for the rest of my days as long as he and I are man and wife. The following rules where apparently simple:

1) there would be no outing what so ever without his expressed permission a day prior to the outing or his accompaniment.

2) No gentlemen other than immediate family are allowed to be within my company without my husband present.

3) There would be no time in which I am allowed to be alone. At all.

As you dear reader can tell my life has been a distinguished hell and now you can fully establish as to why I find myself in the gardens sitting still and praying to heaven that the heat shall dull as I find very little pleasure amidst my rebellion. Sitting in the gardens is the only time I get to spend outside without his company as it upon the lot; therefore I have found myself spending my time here as much as possible. The days it rains I find myself depressed upon recognition as that means I have to find other ways in which to spend my time, the only other sanctuary I have found for myself is the Library however this comes at a cost as my dreaded husband tends to come and sit in there to do what he refers to as his stately affairs. It is my opinion that these affairs are nothing more but a simple excuse to watch me mercilessly as I his struggle to keep his company for more than an hour without wanting to use language that is not suitable for a lady of good breeding.

"Milady I do believe it is time we settle within the drawing room for afternoon tea, for I fear that if we do not Milady, we shall become as brown as the buns that cook is baking"

That my dear reader is my only companion with which I enjoy the company off that is due mainly because she is the only member of the household I chose for myself, this voice of reason is my handmaiden and constant companion Nelly. Nelly was my Governess's daughter; Nelly became a sister to me in all but blood and has remained by my side throughout the entirety of my life. One f the few things that my husband has angered to let me keep, this however like all other things I have asked of my husband comes at a price. To keep Nelly with me meant that I lost what little freedom I had left after my marriage, Keeping Nelly meant that I also had to keep another Handmaid one that he would choose for my company, in other words someone who would spy on me at all times, and this handmaiden has to be present at all times. Meaning at no time am I allowed to be alone with Nelly, Nelly my voice of reason, my conscience ,my sister and I was never allowed to be anywhere without my permanent shadow one of the many banes in my life and unfortunately her name is Patricia.

Patricia is a small perfectly coifed blonde freckled thing that was permanently at my side, and although I feel an awful lot of anger towards its is not as though I can blame her as she is only doing as she is commanded as I do. And yet there is a part of me that still retains my irrational hatred for her. She is the perfect emblem of happiness this is one of the many things in which my darling husband denies me so for him then to flaunt this luxury in the image of this young and beautiful Patricia , Yes i have indeed have hatred for Patricia

However my hatred for my husband i find is completely valid and in by no means uncalled for i find myself wanting to take out revenge upon his handsome head. This most of all is the biggest problem within my marriage is that he indeed the most handsome of men ,when i first laid eyes upon him it was as though my heart leapt into my mouth all I wanted to do was to jump into his arms, which is incredibly inappropriate action.

"Isabella, Come to the dining room immediately"

I turn my head slightly over my left shoulder, seeing him brings me to be such a contradiction of feeling i feel ecstatic because my husband as i have said is indeed very handsome but also I find myself angered by the mere sight of him. And there he stands in his evening clothes, looking at me as though he can see through right through to my soul.

My Husband, Lord Niklaus


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

AN:I don't own anything. Except My OC.

There was always this cold tension or air that I'm sure a carving knife could even be prevented from cutting through the entirety of it, the idea that one breathe would cause a mist to speed froth from your lips if you were ever to enter the room. This tension was caused by the mere sight of my husband however the tension was most palpable in the moments such as these, and by these I am talking about the moments in which I am forced into his company in this instance it is dinner. 

Dinner with my estranged husband is what I imagine Gods punishment, however this then leads to the nagging question as to what is it that I am being punished for, for certain I cannot comprehend what I did to deserve such a life such as this. To sit with the man that I consider the devil himself, it's a terrible thing to admit, I know that it's just I cannot cope to spend any amount of time with him.  
My husband the man on top of the world, the man with all the power and Lord does he lust for his power.  
Not love.  
Nope.  
Lust he lusts for power.  
And Lust is a very strong emotion.  
There he is standing before me at the dining table immaculate as ever, not one single piece of clothing nor is hair out of place he is perfect. My husband is completely unrealistically perfect and that is something that makes me hate him even more. A hatred that continually brews inside of me never ending.

Nicklaus stands there staring at me with a bold look a look which I hate, a look that simply consists of one eyebrow raised always the left one, that itself is annoying in itself however matched with the smugness in his eyes. This look was what began my anger towards my husband in the first place he gave me this look on the day after our wedding. It was a look that turned my head a look that turned my insides to heated mush and not in the good sense of the expression.

"Well, are you going to sit?"

He says it as if there is a choice in the matter, as if his rules don't simply dictate that I do. The rules that never end.

Sitting down at opposite ends of a table that creates a distance which even though it is practically a room apart i am still uncomfortable with, because no matter where I am whenever i am in his company I feel as though he is able to read my mind.  
"so how was your day?"

Small conversation tonight then, Nicklaus doesn't do that regularly the small conversation the idea that I am part of this relationship. My emotions run rapid as he tries to create a conversation a conversation that i do not want to be a part of, one in which ill have to admit that the life I am leading is not the life I wanted to lead that I spend my days losing myself that I am slowly and surely becoming more and more depressed.

"It was adequate"

"Adequate? That is not good enough for my bride I shall have to give you something in order to entertain you more my Wife"

I roll my eyes at that he likes to call me that a lot 'My wife' he loves to remind me and everyone in the room, no in the country that I am his I am not a person to Nicklaus I am a possession. And that is what scares me not his point of view no the idea of being a possession to whatever my husband at the end of the line would be. But no the idea that scared me beyond all recognition is that I can see myself as a possession, and that my life will be solely this and nothing more, a bowl of nothing other than the idea that I am just his, a possession, his possession.

Nothing. I am Nothing.  
Correction I am His.

"Adequate is enough"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I DONT OWN!

AN: Sorry Ive been very busy with Uni whilst its the summer I will try and update as much as possible.

There was a moment when I realised my husband was the devil and that wasn't till months after our wedding. It was a cold night, and I was alone in my room, lying in bed reading something, not something I was particularly invested in but never the less I was reading something on my bed. Awaiting sleep to take hold when all of a sudden he stumbled in through my bedroom door, he doesn't visit my room, that wasn't a rule it just when I was to perform my wifely duties well that usually was on a specific schedule, and when it wasn't he usually informed me about this type of thing at dinner usually in an attempt to embarrass me over the fact that I have to perform such a duty and the fact that I have to be informed of such a thing in front of my handmaidens and the other members of the household staff.

And yet here he was in my room, crawling closer to me, and then the only thing he said as he finished undressing me without giving me the option at all.  
"Your heartbeat is outstandingly fast, and that makes this so much better. To know that you can't hide your fear"  
And that was it he went about his business of attempting to impregnate me, his hands pressing down on my forarms just below my shoulders purposely putting all of his wait on me, this in fact led to black and blue bruises on my arms, that lasted for weeks. It was in this moment in which I let my mind escape as he went about his 'business'. And I thought through all of my life previous to this moment in search for what I have done to deserve this. But then I remember that there are others in far worse situations than I. And yet that somehow doesn't make me feel any better what so ever.

But that moment was months ago and here I was sat at the window watching as the rain falls down the glass as though they were my tears, but I would never cry not since that night I am never going to let him see me cry again. Months have passed and I have become what he wanted I am the doll he plays with when he's in the mood I sit and play house when we have guests I follow all the rules he set forth.

"Hello Darling Wife, turn around darling we have visitors"

That for me is the most dreaded feeling in my stomach because visitors mean one of two things, one is that Nicklaus wants to play house and makes me pretend to be happy. Or he wants to sleep with whatever woman is in the company, Or to be quite honest both.

So I turn towards our guests with a forced smile upon my face, feeling as though my face could crack due to the fact that I barely ever smile anymore, even Nelly has hard time getting me to feel anything other than content or bored now. I look up to see who the new guests are and there stood next to my Husband is a man who looks well similar to my husband and a blonde woman who well looks sympathetic and yet also bored. 

"This is my Brother Elijah and my Sister Rebekah, and this is my Darling Wife Isabella"

I stand and greet them both in an appropriate manner as I was taught, I kind off go on auto run at this stage Niklaus has taken everything out of me that made me original and different, everything about me that made me, me.

Elijah looks me dead in the eye as he grasps my hand softly before placing a kiss upon my hand as he says the two words that made me feel I was once again alive.

"A Pleasure"


End file.
